72 along with weak steering flow of 10-15 kts. Scattered storms during the afternoon hours produced damaging winds in the Tucson Metro area and flash flooding in Sierra Vista.
Every event with a place to put it. Tap one for its entry below.
Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.
The episode as NWS TWC wrote it up.
Impressive moisture was evident on the morning upper air sounding with precipitable water of 1.72 along with weak steering flow of 10-15 kts. Scattered storms during the afternoon hours produced damaging winds in the Tucson Metro area and flash flooding in Sierra Vista.
The local office's own words before the first event, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.
NWS Tucson, AZ wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Aug 8, 3:14 PM MST, 46 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TUCSON AZ 314 PM MST SAT AUG 8 2015 .SYNOPSIS...SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS WILL OCCUR THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING...THEN ISOLATED TO SCATTERED ACTIVITY ON SUNDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY...WITH THE BEST THREAT FOR PRECIPITATION DURING THAT TIME MOSTLY EAST AND SOUTH OF THE TUCSON AREA TOWARD NEW MEXICO AND MEXICO. EXPECT SLIGHTLY GREATER COVERAGE OF THUNDERSTORMS MONDAY AND TUESDAY FOLLOWED BY ANOTHER REDUCTION OF THUNDERSTORM ACTIVITY LATE NEXT WEEK AND INTO NEXT WEEKEND. && .DISCUSSION...WATER VAPOR IMAGERY AND 08/12Z UPPER-AIR PLOTS SHOW A RIDGE CENTERED OVER EAST TEXAS AND THE LOWER MISSISSIPPI RIVER VALLEY. MEANWHILE..A TROUGH RESIDES OVER SOUTHERN IDAHO. ARIZONA IS BETWEEN THESE TWO SYSTEMS WITH A LARGE SWATH OF MID TO UPPER LEVEL DRY AIR COVERING A LARGE PART OF THE EASTERN PACIFIC...CENTRAL AND SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA AND INTO SOUTHERN NEVADA AND CENTRAL UTAH. THE 12Z KTWC SOUNDING SHOWED A PW OF 1.72 INCHES...A MU CAPE OF AROUND 1300 J/KG AND A LIFTED INDEX OF MINUS 4. THE SOUNDING IS DRIER ABOVE ABOUT 575MB COMPARED TO YESTERDAY MORNING WHEN THE SOUNDING WAS DRYING OUT ABOVE AROUND 450MB. IN ADDITION...THE STEERING WINDS TODAY WILL PUSH THE STORMS TO THE NORTHEAST AT AROUND 10 TO 15 MPH...WHILE YESTERDAY THE STORM MOTION WAS TO THE NORTH TO NORTHEAST AT 15 TO 20 MPH. VISIBLE SATELLITE IMAGERY SHOWS AN EXTENSIVE CUMULUS FIELD FROM TUCSON WESTWARD ACROSS MUCH OF CENTRAL AND WESTERN PIMA COUNTY. MEANWHILE...TOWERING CUMULUS AS WELL AS SOME SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS HAVE BEEN DEVELOPING OVER THE MOUNTAIN TOPS FROM TUCSON EASTWARD. THE HARDEST HIT LOCATION SO FAR THIS AFTERNOON HAS BEEN THE CHIRICAHUA MOUNTAINS OF EAST CENTRAL COCHISE COUNTY WHERE ONE AUTOMATED GAUGE REPORTED NEARLY 3 INCHES OF RAIN IN THE PAST 6 HOURS. HOWEVER...MOST OF THAT FELL WITHIN ABOUT A THREE HOUR PERIOD EARLIER TODAY. ANOTHER GAUGE REPORTED 1.57 INCHES IN THE PAST 3 HOURS. THE LATEST RADAR MOSAIC INDICATES THAT THE STORMS OVER THE CHIRICAHUA MOUNTAINS HAVE FINALLY MOVED OFF THE MOUNTAINS TO THE EAST AND ARE QUICKLY DISSIPATING. ELSEWHERE...ISOLATED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS HAVE BEEN DEVELOPING TO THE SOUTH OF THE TUCSON METRO FROM AROUND THREE POINTS TO VAIL AND EASTWARD INTO WESTERN COCHISE COUNTY. THE 12Z RUN OF THE U OF A WRF/NAM & GFS SHOWED MORE ACTIVITY DEVELOPING TO THE SOUTHWEST OF TUCSON THAN WHAT I INHERITED TODAY. SO...EARLIER TODAY I UPDATED THE FORECAST TO REFLECT THIS NOTION...AND BASED ON THE LATEST SATELLITE AND RADAR TRENDS...IT LOOKS LIKE THIS WILL HOLD FOR THE REST OF THIS AFTERNOON...WITH LESSER CHANCES INTO THE EVENING HOURS. WE SHOULD SEE ONLY ISOLATED TO SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS SUNDAY...MAINLY FROM TUCSON EAST. BY MONDAY A BETTER THREAT FOR STORMS...ESPECIALLY EAST AS THE HIGH RETROGRADES TO A POSITION OVER THE TEXAS PANHANDLE...WHICH WILL GIVE US A MORE FAVORABLE FLOW PATTERN WITH SOUTHEAST TO SOUTH MID LEVEL WINDS RESULTING IN SLIGHTLY BETTER CHANCES FOR THUNDERSTORMS. A LOW GRADE MONSOON FORECAST WILL CONTINUE TUESDAY AND WEDNESDAY. THE INHERITED POP FORECAST IN THE LATTER PORTION OF THE FORECAST PERIOD REFLECTED A SIGNIFICANT DECREASE IN STORMS LATE IN THE WEEK AND INTO THE WEEKEND AND THIS SEEMS REASONABLE...SO NO CHANGES WERE MADE. && .AVIATION...VALID THRU 10/00Z. ISOLD TO SCT -TSRA/-SHRA THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING. THE MAJORITY OF ACTIVITY IS EXPECTED SOUTH AND EAST OF KTUS...THOUGH STILL POSSIBLE NEAR THE NORTHERN TERMINALS. BRIEF MVFR CONDITIONS...ALONG WITH GUSTS TO 35 TO 45 KTS WILL BE POSSIBLE IN AND AROUND STRONGER STORMS. TSRA ACTIVITY IS EXPECTED TO DIMINISH TONIGHT AFTER 09/03Z...LASTING A BIT LONGER NEAR KOLS AND KDUG. OTHERWISE...OUTSIDE OF TSRA INFLUENCE EXPECT SCT TO BKN FROM 7 TO 12 KFT...WITH WINDS GENERALLY DIURNAL AND UNDER 12 KTS. AFTER 09/18Z SCT -TSRA/-SHRA WILL AGAIN BE POSSIBLE NEAR ALL TERMINALS...LIKELY FAVORING KDUG...KOLS...AND KALK. AVIATION DISCUSSION NOT UPDATED FOR TAF AMENDMENTS. && .FIRE WEATHER...SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL CONTINUE THIS WEEKEND WITH A FOCUS SOUTH AND EAST OF TUCSON. SCATTERED ACTIVITY WILL THEN SPREAD ACROSS MUCH OF SOUTHEAST ARIZONA MONDAY AND TUESDAY BEFORE A WARMING AND DRYING TREND LIMITS ACTIVITY FOR THE LATTER PART OF THE WEEK. HOWEVER...THERE WILL STILL BE ENOUGH MOISTURE FOR ISOLATED TO SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS OVER THE WHITE MOUNTAINS AND HIGHER ELEVATIONS SOUTH OF TUCSON. && .TWC WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...NONE. && PUBLIC...MOLLERE AVIATION/FIRE WEATHER...HUMPHREYS VISIT US ON FACEBOOK...TWITTER...YOUTUBE...AND AT WEATHER.GOV/TUCSON
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TUCSON AZ
238 PM MST SAT AUG 08 2015
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
1035 PM FLASH FLOOD 1 W CATALINA FOOTHILLS 32.31N 110.90W
08/07/2015 PIMA AZ NWS EMPLOYEE
3 VEHICLES STRANDED DUE TO HIGH WATER NEAR SUNRISE DR
AND PONTATOC RD
&&
EVENT NUMBER TWC1500069
FRANCISSPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TUCSON AZ 357 PM MST SAT AUG 8 2015 AZZ504-514-082330- TUCSON METRO AREA INCLUDING TUCSON/GREEN VALLEY/MARANA/VAIL AZ- SANTA CATALINA AND RINCON MOUNTAINS INCLUDING MOUNT LEMMON/SUMMERHAVEN AZ- 357 PM MST SAT AUG 8 2015 ...SIGNIFICANT WEATHER ADVISORY FOR EAST CENTRAL PIMA COUNTY UNTIL 430 PM MST... AT 354 PM MST...DOPPLER RADAR WAS TRACKING A STRONG THUNDERSTORM NEAR THE TUCSON INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT MOVING NORTHEAST AT 15 TO 20 MPH. WIND GUSTS UP TO 50 MPH WILL BE POSSIBLE WITH THIS STORM. IN ADDITION...EXPECT BRIEF PERIODS OF HEAVY RAIN AND OCCASIONAL LIGHTNING. LOCATIONS IMPACTED INCLUDE... TUCSON...LITTLETOWN...DREXEL-ALVERNON...TANQUE VERDE...SUMMIT... DREXEL HEIGHTS...SOUTH TUCSON...SAN XAVIER MISSION...RITA RANCH... CATALINA FOOTHILLS...DAVIS-MONTHAN AIR FORCE BASE...TUCSON INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT AND SAGUARO NATIONAL PARK EAST. PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS... TORRENTIAL RAINFALL IS ALSO OCCURRING WITH THIS STORM...AND MAY LEAD TO FLASH FLOODING. DO NOT DRIVE YOUR VEHICLE THROUGH FLOODED ROADWAYS. && LAT...LON 3199 11090 3207 11106 3234 11095 3224 11061 TIME...MOT...LOC 2254Z 211DEG 18KT 3218 11089 MOLLERE
The Tucson radar (KEMX), 45 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 22:58 UTC.
2 thunderstorm wind, 1 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.
Thunderstorm winds downed power poles and lines down along Whittier St. between Alvernon Way and Columbus Blvd. About 100 customers lost power. A shallow-rooted tree was uprooted near Swan Rd. and Timrod St.
Thunderstorm winds downed power poles and lines down near W. El Camino del Cerro and N. Tortolita Rd. Approximately 1400 customers lost power.
Nearly two inches of heavy rain fell in a short time period and caused significant flooding of streets and small washes in northwest sections of Sierra Vista.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Arizona in 2015Every state in 2015This day in weather historyWarnings in Arizona, August 2015
NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 599892, 599887, 599462.